Liepāja’s pre-season preparations are continuing, with head coach Andreas Alm due to lead his side into their first home match of the new Virsliga campaign against Riga FC on 7 March. One of last season’s most prolific forwards, Ingars Pūlis, is currently working away from the main group after suffering an injury early in the winter programme. The striker said he has spent much of the off-season in the gym and admitted the routine has been a difficult adjustment.
“I look at the gym machines with no joy at all,” Pūlis said. Asked whether he dreams about finally getting back on playing the football, he added: “Of course. Every day. But for now I don’t even hold the ball in my hands – usually I’m only holding the heavy gym ball.”
Pūlis said the setback is the first time he has suffered a serious interruption during pre-season, and believes it has changed his approach. “You start to look at many things differently, you do everything more seriously and more carefully,” he said, pointing to the importance of details such as warming up.
He also described watching matches from the sidelines as the hardest part of rehabilitation, saying he repeatedly felt he could have influenced key moments. Despite that, the forward who scored 18 league goals for FK Tukums 2000 last season, said he has been encouraged by Liepāja’s attacking play in friendlies, singling out Fellipe Vieira for his movement, technique and end product.
Pūlis added that the support of team-mates Jānis Grīnbergs and Iļja Korotkovs, who have both suffered long-term injuries in their careers, as well as the medical and conditioning staff, has helped him through the daily work. He said his progress since the beginning of February has been significant and that returning to ball training is his immediate goal.
The 25-year-old said he is aware of expectations after last season’s goalscoring record and has set clear targets for the year ahead, including reaching 20 goals, while stressing that league position matters most. “I choose the option where Liepāja finish in the top two,” he said, when asked to weigh up personal numbers against the club’s ambitions.
___________________
Source: https://fkliepaja.lv/lv/2026/02/23/ingars-pulis-bumba-man-sapnos-radas-pastavigi/
